Home
by SayItAgainSparky
Summary: Kat realizes that sometimes home isn't always an actual place. Cute KatxHale one-shot.


**Another Heist Society fic, couldn't help myself! I really like this one, hope everyone else does too! Criticism appreciated! I only own the idea, all rights go to Ally Carter. -Sparky.**

Kat sat in the back of the limo, with her head up against the window, watching the landscape of Austria roll by. She had been thinking about home.

If you would've asked her a year ago, she would have said the old brownstone that belonged to her great-uncle. Now though, she wasn't sure. She no longer felt the little tug whenever she was gone, willing her to come home, because she didn't have the same desire to go back anymore.

She still loved going to see her uncle and father, and who ever else was hanging around Eddie's. But when she crawled into the little twin bed at night, she felt alone and cold. When she sat down on the sofa and sank into the soft leather, it felt more like drowning then being embraced. She didn't understand how suddenly it felt so wrong being there, when it used to be the only thing that felt right.

Kat looked down at her lap, at the boy who was resting his head there. She suspected that what she was feeling had something to do with him. She ran her fingers through his golden hair. Ever since Hale and her had become a team, she hadn't felt compelled to return to the brownstone. She felt more completed, more comfortable, like she found the last piece of a puzzle.

In all actuality, when she did go back to Eddie's, and Hale took that time to deal with the other side of his life, the billionaire side, it was then that she felt like she was missing something inside herself.

As she thought about their relationship, Hale opened his eyes and moved so that her was laying on his back, looking up at her.

"Hey Kitty-Kat," He said, a grin on his lips. "What are you thinking about?"

"Hale, when did the brownstone stop being home?" She figured she knew the answer already, but she needed to hear him same it.

He sat up and came to sit next to her, shoulder-to-shoulder. He looked down at her, brow scrunched, "What?"

She sighed. "Ever since I was little, I've always thought of it as home, you know? No matter where I was in the world, I always wanted to be there. Lately though, it hasn't been like that, in fact it's the opposite. Like I'd rather be anywhere else. I don't get it…"

Hale thought for a minute before turning his body, and lifting her chin to look at him. "Look, I've never really had a home. I have a ridiculous amount of houses and no home. I've always been lost. But then… then I meet you, Kat. And ever since you came along, I haven't felt lost. Wherever I go, as long as your there, I feel like I'm right where I should be. I fell in love with you, Kat, and _you_ become my home."

He let go of her, and returned to sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with her, giving her a moment to let that sink in.

Kat looked down at her hands thinking. Had he just said he loved her? They'd been together for almost eight months now, and neither of them had ever said the _L_ word. Not that Kat didn't love him, because she loved him so much that it scared her a little, how much emotion you could feel for one person. And not that Kat wasn't in love with him, because she was so madly in love with him, that even now, eight months later, she still got nervous holding his hand.

And she figured he felt the same way. No, she _knew _he did, she could see it in his eyes. She could tell by the way he held her when they slept, like he'd never let her go. She could tell by the way he smiled when their knees bumped. She could tell by the way he easily play-bantered with her, the way he felt so comfortable around her. _I guess I never said it because I figured he already knew too, _Kat thought.

Now that he said it, it was the elephant in the room- or limo really. She wanted to say it back, but it made her so light-headed. She wasn't afraid of rejection, just of not saying it the right way. So as she sat there thinking about how to tell Hale just how much she loved him, her stupid mouth said this:

"That was kind of the cheesiest thing you've ever said."

As soon as she said it, she felt like an awful person, because she knew Hale would take it the wrong way.

He looked down at her, shock and hurt on his face as he said for the second time that night, "What?"

She looked up at him. He looked so beautiful, and she felt so stupid. "I mean the 'home is where you are' thing, it's a bit over-used."

He leaned back and bit his lip, "Yeah, but I meant it." "I know."

He sounded angry as he said, "I meant all of it. Not just that, the other thing, too. Sorry, I couldn't find a non-cliché way to put it, but I figured-"

He was cut off mid-sentence, as Kat kissed him fiercly. He seemed a bit shocked, but responded enthusiastically. She moved to straddle him, and settled on his lap, as his hands pushed her sweater up. They moved up to her waist, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. One of her hands was in the hair at the back of neck, the other resting over his heart feeling it beat erratically.

She pulled back after a few minutes, and rested her forehead on his. He swallowed hard as she looked him in the eye and said, "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I was just nervous."

"Why were you nervous?"

"Because I didn't know how to say it back."

"Say what back?"

"How to say that I'm in love with you too."

His eyes filled with an emotion Kat couldn't place. He blinked at her, his long eyelashes brushing her cheek, before whispering, "Do you mean it?"

She smiled softly, pushing a dark lock of hair behind her ear. "Would I say it if I didn't?"

The limo fell quiet again, as the two lost themselves in another kiss, this time putting forth all their love. Everything was now on the table, nothing to hide. For several moments, all one would hear, was the rustle of clothes being pushed around, and the soft sounds of pleasure that would sometimes creep up their throats.

As they came apart, Hale put his lips to Kat's collar bone, breathing hard, and said, "I was being a bit cheesy, wasn't I?"

She laughed, a bit breathlessly, and pulled up his head. "Yeah, but I love that about you."

As Hale moved her so that she layed beneath him on the limo seat, she could help but think that she'd never felt more at home than when she was in Hale's arms.

How cliché.


End file.
